1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical monitoring systems. More particularly, the invention relates to a monitoring system that monitors the return of weight lifting implements to a weight lifting implement receptacle, and that determines whether one or more of the weight lifting implements are improperly placed on the receptacle.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Gyms and health clubs have been and continue to be a very popular place for people to exercise. Most gyms and health clubs offer weight lifting implements such as free weights, for example dumbbells and barbells, as well as machine weights such as NAUTILUS.TM. machines. While gyms and health clubs offer a valuable service, there are certain drawbacks as well. First of all, because exercising continues to be very popular, many gyms are often crowded, especially at peak hours such as in the early evening. When gyms are crowded, gym members will often have to wait to use particular equipment, which adds to the amount of time one must spend at the gym.
Another common problem with gyms is that one often must hunt for a particular piece of equipment, and hope that the previous user of that piece of equipment returned it to its proper location. This is especially true with respect to dumbbells, barbells, and other "mobile" weight lifting implements (devices which can be moved around the gym by users). For example, dumbbells are usually stored on a rack, which is typically in the form of a frame that defines a plurality of upwardly facing, concave cradles sized to receive the various dumbbells. A typical rack also includes a plurality of indicia that associate each of the cradles with a particular dumbbell. For example, a cradle may have the number "50" printed on or very close to it, indicating that it is intended to store a 50 pound dumbbell. However, each cradle is typically the same size and will thus receive any of the dumbbells. Thus, due to a person's mistake or simply laziness, dumbbells are frequently not replaced in the proper cradle, leading to frustration for future users who must seek out the misplaced dumbbell. When more than one user must look for misplaced dumbbells, that can potentially cause congestion in front of the rack, which results in a safety hazard as many people search for and retrieve their desired dumbbells. Also, throughout and at the end of the day, gym personnel will have to reorganize the misplaced implements, which is time-consuming and inefficient. In addition, because many of the implements are quite heavy, any unnecessary movement of those implements is undesirable due to the fact that it can lead to injury.
There currently exists no solution for this problem. Both gym users and gym personnel must rely on the previous users of the weight lifting implements to properly replace the implements they use. This does not happen in a significant number of instances, causing gym members and personnel to spend time searching for particular implements.
Accordingly, it will be apparent that there continues to be a need for a system that monitors the placement ol mobile weight lifting implements like dumbbells, barbells, and the like, and that ensures that those implements are properly replaced after use, so that the next user can quickly and reliably find the desired implement. The present invention addresses these and other needs.